Friday, June 14, 2013

Thanks to BJ Killeen for her take on Dodger Stadium's latest offering, Loge Party Boxes:

Thanks to the kindness of the Dodgers organization (or maybe they just felt sorry for us diehard Dodgers fans who are not having the dream season we thought we were going to have), the SOSGs were bestowed with complimentary seating at one of the new Loge Party Boxes at Dodger Stadium for the last game of the series between the Dodgers and the Arizona Dirtbags.

Think of these boxes as a way for middle-class fans to feel superior to regular fans, but not as important as those in the fancy suites.

According to Dodger Stadium reps, there are eight party boxes that must be purchased as a whole, and, depending on the section and the rating of the game (a 4-star game might be the Yankees, 1-star might be a team worse than us, but this season that's only six other teams), have different prices.

Prices range from a low of $480 for a 1-star game in Loge Section 130 (down the first-base line) that seats six to a high of $1,350 for a 4-star game in Section 101 behind the backstop that seats eight. Your intrepid gang of diehard beer-swilling SOSGs were in Section 103, which would have cost $1,350, or roughly $130/ticket for a top game or $80/ticket for a low-end game if you had the full 10 people.

The party boxes also are set up a little differently depending on the amount of people; some have metal chairs with backs, some have shelf space along the wall for holding food and drinks while standing, and others, as our box was, had a row of four bolted-down stools (they must know us) and two moveable stools, along with a tall table and four tall chairs with a wall behind.

Two of the party box sections, 157 and 158 (left field and right field in no man’s land) can be purchased through individual seats only, and cost $40 to $75 and are set up in a row of 10 and a row of 7.

The seats and stools come with drink rails so you can eat your Dodger Dog and drink your beer without doing any lap juggling. Each box also features a hanging flat screen TV so you can look up and see what's going on down on the field (or you can just look down on the field, duh.)

Now that the specs are out of the way, let’s talk pros and cons.

PROS:

It is a party box. You can freely move around, change seats, talk to who you want to without being restricted by formal seating and rows. It actually worked better than I thought, and it was fun to move around, easy to take photos, and felt like a party.

Since the boxes are on the same level as the walkway, there was no chance of falling down the steep steps or tripping coming up when you are inebriated to the point where you have lost your sense of balance. (Not that this has ever happened to any SOSGer, but you know, just in case it might in the future). It also places you closer to the beer and the bathrooms.

You’re with friends only, so no bumping elbows with that obnoxious non-Dodgers fan, or the smelly guy who thought it was okay to run a marathon and not shower before coming to the game.

There is an air of superiority. We are better than you peons who must sit in those chairs below us, without somewhere to place your beer(s).

Power outlet. There were two 110v outlets, with two plugs each. For those of us who want to have our iPhones surgically fused to our hands (except for Delino, who thinks Android is the way to go, poor misguided fool), this was a major plus.

Delivery service. Who doesn’t like to be waited on? Some food can be ordered individually, but the beer and the sodas had to be ordered in a six pack. And you can't order pizza, which had most of the Sons in an uproar, with talk about storming Fan Services and holding someone hostage until this demand was met.

CONS:

Its under the overhang, so if you like to see the sun and stars, that’s not going to happen. You also won’t see the high fly balls, and have to wait until gravity kicks in to see where it lands.

For the boxes behind home plate, you’ll be watching through the backstop net, which isn’t tragic, unless you are a National Geographic award-winning photographer who likes to take photos for this blog occasionally and had to spend most of his time out of the box to get unobstructed photos of players in full swing.

No pizza delivery.

Did I mention no pizza delivery?

You are stuck on the Loge level, which means you can’t go down to the field if you get in early to watch batting practice or try to get autographs.

This is a nit: because of the overhang, the air tends to get trapped on that level, so it was a little stuffier and warmer than on the other levels.

So the pros outweigh the cons, which makes this a good choice for those non-Fortune 500 companies who want to do something nice for their small-business employees besides let them dress in Hawaiian shirts on Friday and bring cheap-ass donuts to a meeting.